Another defendant in the international hacking case, Arkadiy Dubovoy, 51, pleaded guilty before a US District Court Judge. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also added 9 more defendants in the case.
As reported by Reuters, Dubovoy has pleaded before US District Court Judge Madeline Cox Arleo for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He could face up to 20 years in prison for the case but could be given a shorter sentence due to recommended federal sentencing guidelines.
Dubovoy admitted that he was part of an international hacking scheme that generated $100 million by hacking into news wires and illegally obtain corporate press released. According to Bloomberg, the scheme operated for 5 years.
The scheme centered on two Ukranian hackers, Oleksander Ieremenko and Ivan Turchynov, who were able to steal 150,000 press released within the span of the illegal operation. As reported by Yahoo, the press released obtained by Ieremenko and Turchynov contained the corporate earnings and other information.
Afterwards, the defendants used 800 of the materials for stock trades, several hours or even days before the information is released. According to Dubovoy, they also agreed to give half of their profits to the hackers after the trade.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission previously pressed charges against 33 defendants and recently added nine more to the ongoing list. The nine new defendants were charged in New York. Some of the nine new individuals and companies sued by the SEC are Natalia Andreevna Alepko, Andrey Bokarev, Anton Maslov, Radion Panko and Evegenii Zavodchiko.
Hackers were able to log on to the news wires' computer through the method of "phishing" where a link is sent via email to the targeted computer, that when clicked, gives off user log in information and password. Both Ieremenko and Turchynov are still at large while the authorities continue their investigation on the case.
